Realtime Worlds enters administration [update 2]

Famed Scottish studio Realtime Worlds is on the brink of closure with the company entering administration, Develop can confirm.

Studio sources say the business has been handed over to its new administrator, the corporate rescue firm Begbies Traynor Group.

Realtime Worlds now has a deadline to find an investor that can save the firm from liquidation.

If no willing investor is found, Realtime World’s final game will have been All Points Bulletin – an ambitious, five-year gamble that attempted to merge the sandbox action genre with an MMO monetisation structure.

That gamble, which convinced investors to supply at least $80 million to the studio, failed to pay off. Rumours of studio breakdown surfaced just weeks after APB launched to market. Sales have been poor and server capacity – built to house huge volumes of players – has barely been scratched.

The fate of APB remains unclear, for now, though Develop has heard the title will live on - likely in the hands of another company.

The news has led to an emotional outpouring from former developers and connected individuals, responding to the news across Twitter.

One source said 170 staff have been laid off, with 50 kept on to support APB – though this has not been confirmed.

He added: "I just want to say how hard this has been for everyone. We’ve prided ourselves on building a fantastic calibre team – and a very close-knit team, and it's regrettable to let even one of them go.”